Reverse appliqué update

 I recently shared how I experimented with Reverse appliqué. 

It was a technique I had not tried previously & I learned how the technique works but it also highlighted the pitfalls I needed to be aware of in the choice of the fabrics. I used 4 linen colours for mine, arranging them how I wanted the layers to be.  

The link explains the technique I used …

I love working with linen fabric but the weave was too loose to hold the shape without bits coming off. 

I had to reinforce the outline with a row of machine stitching to give it a firm outline. 

However, I liked the row of stitching as it held the cut out together. 

I applique was an outline of the angels I had photographed in Bran castle in Transylvania because it was an interesting take on angel wings. 

The juxtaposition of the angel wings & the dark history of Dracula appeals to me because it was such a fascinating place & country. 

Because the reverse applique panel is just mine, I experimented by adding an outline of the castle in pale threads alongside the angels. 

It is subtle with pale red stitching for the roof, the building outline in pale stitching so it did not distract from the applique but added to it, giving it context in some way. 

The rocky base had only a few stitches to balance the heavier stitching at the top. 

I had wanted to try this edging technique of using a larger length of backing fabric which is stitched on the fabric edge, then the fabric is trimmed to a set length all the way around. 

The next step is for the outer fabric to be folded to the panel edge, ironed flat then folded on to the panel to be top stitched. 

This is the cut fabric folded in half to the edge of the panel, the next step is to fold it on to the panel with this edge enclosed. 

I ironed the fabric at each stage & used sewing clips to hold it in place for stitching. 

I did a small whip stitch across the edging & panel to secure them. 

The whip stitch is straight across on the front, angled at the back. 

On the next one I will mitre the corner fabric but this is a neat finish to a panel. 

Several techniques practiced, lessons noted for next time & a finished item reminding me of a fantastic visit to Transylvania. 

Any hints for the mitres corners are welcome please. I really need to conquer that technique so it comes naturally. 

Thank you for stopping by, it is appreciated. 

Dee 🧵📍🪡🏰🏯

A fortified house / castle in our Shropshire countryside

On a free midweek day,  I realised that I had not visited the lovely Stokesay castle / fortified manor house for some years. It is set in beautiful Shropshire countryside & it is a  lovely drive out to it. Hubby had not visit it in about 15 years, I was there several times in that time, so he was keen to revisit. 

It sits in a small group with the church to the side & then the view of the distinct yellow timbered gatehouse with the castle to the side of it. 

The castle is actually a fortified manor house with a moat around it & the interesting jutting out parts with leaded windows.  

Stokesay one of the finest fortified manor houses in England. This is a plan of the buildings from Wikipedia . The church is to the fight of G. 

You enter the enclave of buildings through the timbered yellow gatehouse, then in to a large enclosed space with the castle in front of you. The great hall has a massive wooden door that would have kept it safer. The windows in the hall & castle side have latticed wooden inserts & the others are closed off with substantial shutters.  The roof has massive wooden beams that are about 700 years old. 

This photo shows the views both ways with the steep wooden stairs of the north tower leading to the jutting out part, the other side leading to the South Tower buildings with blacksmith below etc. 

A steep wooden stairway leads to the jutting out part overlooking the church - generous room with views to the countryside too. The massive fireplace was needed to keep the chill at bay in these places as the wind whistled through any gaps in the shutters & doors. 

People were hardy in those times - they had to be. 

Back downstairs in the hall & on the opposite side is another set of stairs - just a little rise to a series of rooms to that side. The first one, the Solar block has another generous fireplace & it has two wooden doors to either side. In times past, this room was panelled. However, these two little wooden doors open to give a view of the hall below. 

I could see other visitors in the hall below & because it was half way up the wall, I could catch snatches of conversations too. I'm sure the two windows were in great demand to know what was happening in other parts of the house, to see visitors enter & to overhear news or gossip.  

These quirks are always fascinating as they give us a window in to life as it was. 

The South Tower behind this room had a little room then a room of stone, set to the side with two stone windows & this was a loo in times past; a loo with a view & a chilly one at that as the wind could blow from two sides. 

More stairs led to some more rooms then a steep, narrow set of stone stairs led up on to the roof area of the castle side with great views over the complex of buildings, of the church & the countryside. Essential to protect the fortified house. 

The rooms at the bottom of the castle was the space used by a blacksmith who would have been essential to provide all the metal work like hinges, catches, door fastenings & for shoeing the horses etc. 

We popped in to the church on our way out - the low ceiling in the entrance probably made it feel quite cosy & it would have been well used by the residents of the adjoining house / castle. I always light a candle & offer up a prayer when I visit churches, it is those quiet moments of reflection. 

I'm glad we seized the moment to revisit & to enjoy the countryside as the autumn colours set in. This is a great place to view the countryside from with its many openings in all directions, some shuttered, many not. 

There are notices about the South Tower for the bats that roost in the castle where it is dry & warm. We did not see any, but there is evidence of the mud swallow nests in the rafters. 

I hope you have found it as fascinating as I did, thank you for stopping by. It is always appreciated. 

Dee 

A little sewing project ...

 I bought this protea fabric ages ago with the intention of it going with the woollen winter curtains in the dining room because it is the same oatmeal colour that is in the tartan curtains. 

However, it was lost & forgotten about until I changed the airy summer curtains to the heavy winter ones this past week & found the 2 meters of fabric in the curtain container.

It was still the long length that I had bought it in so it was hemmed all around to be used on the dining room table. 

Our Living-room has a vase of beaded proteas I bought in South Africa & another vase of silk ones that I am rather fond of so continuing the protea look across both rooms is good. 

I had bought some panels a while back & two of them had proteas right on the side. I decided it was time to make them in to two useful items for the sideboard & console table in the dining room but they could be used elsewhere in the house too. 

I didn't want the large size of the panels so I cut them down to a size I wanted, cut heavy cream backing fabric too. The two parts were ironed very well,  then I took it to the machine to be hemmed. 

The corners were pinned & I left a gap in the bottom edge for turning through. After stitching all around, I trimmed the corners then turned it through. 

It was again pressed very well & the bottom gap was pinned. I top stitched all around, close to the edge so I caught in the gap, closing it with the top stitching. 

More pressing then they were taken to the dining room where the cream, pink & greens look rather nice. The oatmeal protea table cloth picks up the same colour in the pattern of the heather colour in the tartan curtains. 

I don't know why I have put off hemming them all because they fit in well. 

Who else buys lengths of fabrics as table cloths? Our conservatory table extends & bought cloths are often the wrong size so I hem fabrics I like for there. 

Thank you for stopping by & visiting, it is appreciated. 

Dee 🧵🪡📍

Signs of Autumn at home & in the woods ...

 Somehow, the year is galloping by & the misty mornings remind us that Autumn is here. 

The nights are drawing in & the morning light takes its time to arrive now. 

Early morning mists drew us out to some local woods to enjoy the changing seasons & have a walk in the woods. 

I love misty mornings when things seem mysterious, when the woods are more silent & half hidden, when you hear voices long before figures appear in the misty light. 

The dampness highlighted the many cobwebs on the trees - somehow they really like the prickly holly bushes. 

The woodland floor is spongy with decades of fallen leaves & more drifted down all the time, along with the sound of little branches falling. 

I picked up some spindly branches with little pinecones & carefully places their curving branches in my bag where they flapped around with each step. 

I picked up some conkers & one of the pricky outer shells/ They are freshly fallen & very prickly still so had to be content with just 1. 

The cool, moist woods are the perfect growing conditions for a multitude of fungi, nestled in the fallen leaves & twigs. 

I do not know one from another & do not actually like mushrooms so am content to just photograph them. 

I added 2 little branches with red berries & my woodland collection looks rather good. I prefer it to a fake, commercial one & it reminds me of time in nature.

Once home, I carefully put the foraged twigs, leaves & berries in this vintage vase (bought from a charity shop some years back).

The spindly pine bracts I picked up survived their journey around the forest in a shopping bag I grabbed from the car as we stopped. 

The H.J. Woods Indian Tree vase is generous & sturdy enough to hold an assortment of twigs & leaves. It also has similar colours to the Spode plates that I had in mind. 

The conservatory sideboard is long overdue a change. The woodland vase nudged me to fetch the few Spode Woodland plates I have - 6 - from their retail shop in Stoke on Trent a few years ago. 

The 2 yellow deer plates were from Next a few years ago. They sometimes appear at Christmas with their pretty flower adorned antlers but fit in well with the Spode plates so they are out too. They are a good match to the vase too - I must bring them out more often. 

The beautiful ruby glass decanter was a gift from Ms M a few years ago, along with the vintage custard cups with their little handles. They are the perfect size for sherry on dark days ... 

A little jig around & I think it is looking perfect for Autumn. What do you think? 

Do you also come back from a walk with a pocket (or bag) of things you foraged or picked up? 

The Autumn sideboard has things I have had for a long time but they are greatly enjoyed & make a welcome appearance from time to time. 

Thank you for stopping by & visiting. It is always appreciated. 

Dee 🪾🪵🌳🍁🍂

Inspiration for the garden ...

I have always loved green spaces & have gardened wherever life has taken me across many countries. 

Our Shropshire garden is a modest, urban space that I love.  I have planted loads of green plants over the almost 2 decades we have been in this house because I enjoy looking out over greens in winter when it is grey & bleak. 

Lush planting also softens urban sounds, making gardens more private so you can enjoy the space without your conversations travelling across fences.  The dense planting allows you to share the space with wildlife, & that is always entertaining. 

I am still coaxing a side hedge to grow because the far side neighbour cut down a mature hedge a year ago & this has been the second summer of living with a gap that I am keen to fill.

 I saw a social media post that Wollerton Old Hall Gardens will soon be closing after the summer & it jolted my memory that I have not visited it for perhaps 3 years. I used to travel out to that part of Shropshire weekly to students, but since the 3 sisters have outgrown lessons, it is rare that I go there so I seized the free morning to head out & visit the nearby gardens. 

They are often featured on gardening programmes, in magazines & on shows because they are so inspirational. 

I got there at opening time which means there were not as many people about & that makes for better photos & a quieter meander which suits me well. 

The gardens are laid out in sections / rooms, some formal with neatly clipped shapes, balls & trees, other sections a riot of colour, always ordered but planted for impact. 

There are benches in various spots to sit & take in the beauty. The summer house has a view in two directions, lamps on the table & I can imagine the owners enjoying their garden as the light softens in the evening. They are then free to enjoy their space without visitors ... 

They grow salvias in many colours & varieties, from dainty to tall ones - planted en masse so there is a profusion of colour amidst the arching stems. I need to be bolder, I definitely need way more plants.  

What really struck me again was what I would call the jewel garden - vivid yellows, oranges, magenta,  hot colours side by side with purples & blues that set them off so well.  I need more yellows & oranges in the garden at home. 

I had a wonderful couple of hours, taking photos, getting inspiration & buying some more salvias to give pops of colour. I need to make my borders deeper, fuller & more colourful next year. 

What a great morning on my own, just being inspired by this beautiful space. I am planning some changes in the garden, I just need an abundance of plants. 

Thank you for stopping by, how is your outdoor space doing? 

Dee 🌺💐🌼🥀🪻🏡🪏🪴

A little felting morning ...

It has been almost a decade since I took my first felting course & it unlocked a new world of interesting creative times. 

Since then I have felted several projects & it is something that is immediate & enjoyable. I did a series of sunflowers in blue & yellow in regard to the Ukrainian crisis. 

My cousin & I also felted a heather landscape together last year because it was new  to her & she did very well. 

This week, our local haberdashery shop had a felting workshop & I made time to attend. 

We do need to hone our skills regularly; as a life long educator, I love courses & learning off others too. 

I was the only one out of the 6 of us who had previously done any felting but with Lou's excellent guidance, all were soon jabbing away at the little project, inspired by her example. 

We had all opted to have the additional kit, so we all started with exactly the same selection of felt colours & threads to use for embroidery embellishment. 

One of the ladies suggested adding in a sheep & so sheep were added to the little countryside scene. 

My mind went blank & even though I had felted sheep previously, mine were not good & they will be sorted at home. Felt is very forgiving & you can remove it by pulling on it or, as I did, felt over to change the shape. 

That is what I love about felting - it is forgiving.  

I am confident in a variety of embroidery stitches & everyone helped each other out with a quick refresh so it passed in no time. 

Lou had little frames to show off our work. The little frame is useful to have it out in the craft space at home. It was an enjoyable time with like minded people & we all had something that was complete or almost complete.

We all encouraged Lou to do another felting day.  

It is more fun to do as a group activity too because working together is great for creativity & to be able to bounce ideas off each other.  

I had to sort out my sheep at home so they look more like sheep than sheep dogs.  

This is a previous one I did & so I had to do some remedial work on mine. 

However it was great fun to do something with some guidance & a different approach - that is always useful. 

While sorting out my sheep at home, I decided to add a few beads to the fly stitched field. I love the way they just catch the light & the fly stitches look like a field of flowers. 

Does anyone else find it really tricky to thread the beading needles with the tiny eye? Any technique suggestions will be welcome. 

Who else loves courses as much as I do? Always lovely to have you stop by the blog, 

Dee 🪡📍🧵🐏🐑

Traditional pipe making skills ...

Just a century ago, smoking a pipe was a common sight with smaller plain pipes smoked by the masses while more intricate ones were a status sign. The bowls were small because tobacco was expensive.

Clay pipes were also quite fragile, they needed you to take time to fill them up from a tobacco pouch, tamp them down, then light them, not a quick process.  

The first world war brought about a change to cigarettes that travelled well with soldiers & pipe manufacture declined over time. 

Broseley Clay & Pipeworks is a fairly local one -I noted that they were open as part of a Heritage Weekend so we went off for a much needed return visit. 

 I last visited about 20 years ago & because part of the Museum is besides private 1 up 1 down cottages, it is not open too often. 

It is humbling to stand in the museum part of the 1 up, 1 down cottage & know that an entire family of parents & perhaps 6 or more children lived in these tiny spaces with just a fireplace for cooking in the downstairs room. 

It makes us look at our large homes with fresh eyes & appreciation of how life has changed in just a century. 

This clay pipe works was abandoned in 1960, shut up shop with unfired pipes still in their saggars, orders still packed, equipment left as it was & it became a time capsule of the industry. The buildings needed extensive remedial work when they were brought in to use as a museum & their listed status guarantees their future. The little glass office in the image below was where all the paperwork was done in, a window open on to the street behind where the wares were collected or sent on from. 

These little industries were essential work & the prestige of this small pipe maker meant that clay pipes were often just called 'The Broseleys' after the place they were made & the pipes were sent to far flung places that the workers could never even dream of.  Pipes had been made in this area from about 1600. Local clay was used but it was a creamy colour so white clay was brought up the nearby Severn River from Devon & this was seen as better quality. The cast iron pipe moulds were made in the metal works & fired in the numerous furnaces along the Severn River where the world famous Ironbridge of 1779 was cast. It was fortuitous to use what was available. 

Touring the small space with a very knowledgeable volunteer was very interesting as her grandmother & great grandmother & great aunt all worked there in their time. She had photos of them at the pipe works, smartly dressed & neatly turned out.  They were paid per full saggar (firing pot) of pipes they made. It was precise work with long hours & poor pay but options were limited so people took up whatever employment they could. Their records show that one worker made 1,056 pipes a week. 

The low ceilings, small rooms, poorly lit spaces make you appreciate the working conditions of people. Pipes had been made in Broseley since the early 1600's, a highly prized industry.

It was a fascinating return visit of a time when smoking was mainstream & there was a huge demand for such items. 

There is much beauty in the lines of beautifully made pipes laid out on the tables & in the saggars as they would have been when prepared for firing in the kilns at 1000C, then the time spent cooling before they could be taken out - a process of about 5 days. 

A full kiln held 60-70 gross of pipes which was 8,640 to 10,080 pipes per firing. 

Good honest work was what happened in these little places ... 

I hope you have enjoyed the visit with me, thank you for stopping by, 

Dee